Better Software Magazine Articles

Stop The Insanity! Using Root Cause Analysis to Avoid Repeating Your Mistakes

We've all heard Einstein's definition of insanity, and it definitely holds true in software development. We "are" going to make mistakes in product development, but root-cause analysis can help us understand those mistakes and be proactive in not repeating them.

Ed Weller's picture Ed Weller
Where Do I Go From Here?—Professional Growth for Software Testers

Most professionals have a detailed career ladder upon which to climb and grow their careers. But in many test organizations that ladder has only one rung—and it leads to management. If management isn't your path of choice, these tips can help you market yourself and add value to your career while you build your own technical career ladder.

Matthew Heusser's picture Matthew Heusser
Test Metrics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Appropriate metrics used correctly can play a vital role in software testing. We use metrics to track progress, assess situations, predict events, and more. However, measuring often creates "people issues," which, if ignored, become obstacles to success and can even destroy a metrics program, a project, or an entire team. Metric programs may be distorted by the way metrics are depicted and communicated. In this interactive session, John Fodeh invites you to explore the good, the bad, and the ugly side of test metrics. John shows how to identify and use metrics for assessing the state and quality of the system under test. When being measured, people can react with creative, sophisticated, and unexpected behaviors. Thus our well-intentioned efforts may have a counter-productive effect on individuals and the organization as a whole. The ugly side of metrics is encountered when people manipulate metrics.

John Fodeh, HP Software
Measures and Metrics for Your Biggest Testing Challenges

Over the course of many STAR conferences, Ed Weller has collected a list of your biggest challenges in testing-lack of time, unrealistic deadlines, lack of resources, inadequate requirements, last minute changes, knowing when to stop testing, and poor quality code from development. Using this list and Victor Basili's "Goal, Question, Metric" approach to measurement, Ed identifies the measurements and metrics that will help test managers and engineers objectively evaluate and analyze their biggest problems. By doing so, you can map out improvement options and make a strong business case for the resources and funding you need. By providing management with objective evidence rather than subjective opinions, which they call "whining," you will improve your chances for success. Just as importantly, you will be able to use these measurements to guide and communicate your progress with meaningful data.

Edward Weller, Integrated Productivity Solutions, LLC
The Hawthorne Effect

Ever wondered what productivity experiments on factory workers in the early twentieth century have in common with today's adoption of agile practices? Lee sheds some light on the "process of process" and the importance of retrospectives as catalysts for change.

Lee Copeland's picture Lee Copeland
What's on Your Dashboard?

Just because a metric is easy to capture doesn't mean it is useful. The metrics that are really needed are the ones that can help you make good decisions. Find out how to establish a project dashboard with meaningful metrics that will guide your project safely to its destination without getting bogged down in an endless pursuit of unnecessary information.

John Fodeh's picture John Fodeh
When Good Numbers Go Bad

All measurement numbers begin their life with the objective of being good and useful tools. Often a combination of mistakes, misunderstandings, organizational politics, and poor usage intersect to make these "Good Numbers Go Bad." Valuable measurements act as a nexus that focuses the members of an organization on its goals. Such measurements are relevant to the organization, predictive in that they provide foreknowledge of events, and broad enough to be useful in more than one situation. Whether you are a software manager, project manager, or a measurement guru, one of your roles is to act as the keeper of the numbers and the steward of useful information. Thomas Cagley illustrates the unfortunate realities of how good numbers can go bad and offers suggestions on how to make measurement a positive force in your development organization.

  • Common measurement mistakes that many organizations make
Thomas Cagley, The David Consulting Group
We Need It by October: What's Your Estimate?

Letting good estimates made by smart people be overwhelmed by the strong desires of powerful people is a cardinal sin of project management. Accurate estimates are the foundation of all the critical project decisions regarding staffing, functionality, delivery date, and budget. How do we properly estimate in a world where tradition declares that the deadline is set before the requirements are even known? Tim Lister offers practical advice on dealing with this thorny issue. He presents strategies and tactics for project estimating and describes his favorite estimating metric, the Estimating Quality Factor(EQF). By thinking of your project this way-goals are important and so are good estimates-you will be on the road to better quality and better projects. If you can learn to start the project and estimate continuously as events unfold, your goals and estimates will eventually converge.

Tim Lister, Atlantic Systems Guild, Inc.
Measuring and Monitoring the End Game of a Software Project: Part Deux

How do you know when a product is ready to ship? QA managers have faced this question for years. Mike Ennis shares a process he uses to take the guessing out of when to ship a product, replacing guessing with key metrics to help you rationally make the right ship decision. Learn how to estimate, predict, and manage your software project as it gets closer to its release date. Mike shows you which metrics to track and how to collect them without undue overhead on the project. Define a ratings scale for each metric you collect and create a spider chart indicating that the product is ready-or not. Mike's presentation is a must for individuals or organizations that are serious about releasing their software products when they are ready-and not before-and knowing in advance when the software will be ready.

  • Manage release risks in any software project
Mike Ennis, Accenture
Ten Habits of Highly Effective Measurement Programs

Accurately measuring product quality and process capabilities is challenging in any software organization. Most organizations do not attempt any real measurement at all, and the ones that do often fail miserably. In fact, the industry success rate for software measurement programs is terribly low-some say less than 25 percent. Ian Brown presents ten keys to measurement success, including: having people dedicated to measurement work rather than those assigned part-time, a strong commitment from senior management, measurements directly related to articulated business goals, automated measurement collection tools, integrating measurement into the process rather than tacked on, and more. Based on the successes of Booz Allen Hamilton, learn how to start small and slowly grow your measurement program to build success on top of success.

Ian Brown, Booz Allen Hamilton

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